Cattle-rack



(No Model. I

G. HOFFMAN.

GATTLE RACK.

No. 547,262. Patented 0m. 1, 1895.

union,

GEORGE HOFFMAN, OF SHELBYVILLE, MISSOURI.

CATTLE- RACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 547,262, dated October 1, 1895.

Application filed January 24, 1895. Serial No. 586,014. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE HOFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Shelbyville, in the county of fihelby and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Racks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in racks to be used in connection with platformscales, whereby a number of animals may be weighed at once.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cattle-rack constructed according to my invention, secured to a platform-scale. Fig. 2 is a detail of the removable center brace. Fig. 3 is asimilar view of one of the shoes. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the lower gate-hinge.

In the said drawings the referencenumeral l designates the platform of an ordinary weighing-scale. Secured to the ends of said platform are shoes 4. of malleable iron, comprising arms 5 at an obtuse angle to each other and formed at one side with a flange 6. One of these arms of each shoe is secured to the platform by nails or bolts, while the other arm is secured to the lower ends of the inclined posts 7 in a similar manner, the flanges 6 engaging with said beams and posts. These posts are connected together at top and bottom by horizontal rails 8.

Secured to one of the end posts 7 at the top thereof is a hinge-leaf 9, with which is connected by a pintle 10 a similar leaf 12 on the upper rear end of the gate 13, consisting of a number of horizontal, vertical, and inclined rails, numbered, respectively, 14, 15, and 16. At the lower end of the gate is a hinge-leaf 17, adapted to engage with an upwardly-projeoting pintle formed on the end of an outwardly-projecting bracket 18, secured to the said end post of the rack, a link 19, pivoted to one of the horizontal rails 8 and provided with an eye 20, engaging with the said pintle for bracing the bracket. At its front end the gate is provided with a latch 21, which en gages with a keeper 23 on one of the end posts of the rack to .lock the gate when closed.

On the end of one of the upper horizontal rails time two brackets 24, forming guides for a slidable bar 25, which is adapted to be moved outwardly and forms astop for the gate when opened the proper distance.

The numeral 26 designates a removable center-brace beam, consisting of a board or bar having its ends provided with inclined bars 27, which abut against the inner sides of the inclined center posts 7. This beam is also provided at each end witha metal plate 28, having an opening therein which fits over a staple 29 in the top horizontal rail 8, a pin 30 passing through the staple to hold the plate in place. When the cattle are driven into the rack, the said beam is removed and replaced when the cattle move off. When small cattle to be weighed are driven onto the platform, it is not necessary to remove the beam.

The numeral 31 designates inclined boards secured to the horizontal rails forming the sides of the platform.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- In a cattle rack, the combination with the platform, of the metal shoes secured thereto comprising arms at an obtuse angle to each other and provided with side flanges, the inclined posts secured to'said shoes, the horizontal rails, the inclined boards secured thereto, the removable center brace, the apertured plates secured thereto, the staples secured to the intermediateinclined posts, the pins passing therethrough, the inclined bars secured to the center brace and bearing against the inner sides of the inclined center posts, the swinging gate, the brackets secured to one of the top horizontal rails and the slidingbar working in said brackets and forming a stop for the gate, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' GEORGE HOFFMAN.

Witnesses:

JAMES C. HALE, C. L. ENNIS. 

